06.12.22 | Stories | by Jim Merritt
From left: Cantor Irene Failenbogen, The New Synagogue of Long Island, Brookville; The Rev. Natalie M. Fenimore, Unitarian Universalist Congregation at Shelter Rock, Manhasset; and The Rev. Canon Winfred Vergara, Holy Trinity Episcopal Church, Hicksville, and National Asian Missioner of the Episcopal Church. Credit: Linda Rosier; Alex M. Wolff; Chanie Cohen
Whether cracked open on a beach blanket, on a park bench or at a vacation home, a summer read can enlighten and inspire as well as entertain. This week's clergy discuss spiritually enriching books they have read or plan to read this summer.
The Rev. Dr. Natalie M. Fenimore
Lead minister and minister of Lifespan Religious Education, Unitarian Universalist Congregation at Shelter Rock, Manhasset
As you might imagine, a minister reads a lot of books with a spiritual component. But what is great about summer reading is the leisure of it - the time that can be given to reflect on the content to ask questions of the text and relate to the year past and the year ahead.
This summer, I will be reading ''Accidental Gods: On Men Unwittingly Turned Divine" (Metropolitan, 2021), by writer, critic and independent scholar Anna Della Subin. Subin studied the history of religion at Harvard Divinity School. In her book, she tells the stories of mortal men, like Emperor Haile Selassie of Ethiopia, who were deified because of their race, money or power. She explores the symbolic power of religion and our own god-making to build systems of oppression and colonization - or to try to subvert oppression and liberate.
I am also keeping these books of poetry in my bag: "The Path to Kindness: Poems of Connection and Joy" (Storey Publishing, 2022), edited by James Crews, and "Spilling the Light: Meditations on Hope and Resilience" (Skinner House Books, 2019), by Theresa I. Soto.
Each of us individually, and our collective communities, needs resources for healing after such a trauma-filled year.